ALEXA-POWERED SOUND

I’m Even More Obsessed with Bots After Testing the Sonos Beam Soundbar With Amazon Alexa

Bring Amazon Alexa into your living room with the Sonos Beam soundbar, one of the best-sounding home theater speakers around -- now with a bot built-in.

And then the soundbar suggested I wear a rain jacket.

This was the twist I discovered while testing an amazing Alexa-powered home theater soundbar called the Sonos Beam. You may already be familiar with Sonos, known for its Wi-Fi speakers which you can place around the house. The Beam is the company’s first soundbar and one of its first products that supports the Amazon Alexa bot. I’m known for being bot-obsessed and I tend to talk to Amazon Alexa and the Google Assistant all day.

I was watching a documentary on Netflix about the Laurel Canyon music scene and realized I was late for a meeting. I asked Alexa on the Beam about the weather and the bot said it was going to rain and to bring a raincoat. This is the current state of technology. A soundbar meant for making Tom Petty sound better in a Netflix documentary goes a few steps further and provides clothing advice. Alexa has suggested football games that are on later in the day and I’ve had entire conversations with her about political figures.

What this means is that a soundbar changes what you do in the living room. I asked Alexa to read a book from my Audible library, remind me about a dentist appointment, and even call my wife (she was a little surprised by this), all through the soundbar that’s attached to my TV. It’s a home theater gamechanger.

I should probably mention the sound quality. It’s fantastic. I liked how rich the bass sounded testing a movie called Yesterday. On several tests playing recent albums by Ben Howard, Foals, and a new single by Coldplay, the Beam sounded distinct and clear. I remember thinking the patter of drums on a Bed Howard sounded like the drummer was sitting right next to me in the room. That audiobook had a rich and deep resonance.

In general, I’m a fan of all Sonos products, but the Beam is special. Connecting to Wi-Fi was super easy with the Sonos app. I connected it to my television using an HDMI cable. The speaker comes in black or white. There’s even an included optical cable adapter for older television hook-ups. The Sonos Beam is my favorite soundbar. Alexa, thanks for the tips.

Amazon

$399

Sonos Beam

Amazon

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John Brandon

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